Muthaiga Sports Round-Up

Club Trips 2021

Club Trips 2021, kindly sponsored by Maria Cunningham, was played by four teams in round-robin style. The winners - Peter Scholes (skip), Marion Weston (second) and Clare Jethwa (lead) were undefeated in all three games (two wins and a peel). Runners-up were Oliver Fowler (skip), Halina Pellini (second) and Sheila Barker (lead). The spider was won by Marion Weston and Gerry Cunningham.

Kindly sponsored by Ian Stamp, the Club Singles 2021 had a very good entry of 14 players. The standard of competition was very high indeed and the four players who got through to the semi-finals were Halina Pellini, Oliver Fowler, Ian Stamp and Rob Porter, which set up an exciting final between Oliver and Ian. In the final Oliver got off to a terrible start and was trailing 7-0 after the first three ends but managed to get on the board with two shots in the fourth end. After six ends Ian was leading 11-2 and it looked all over at that stage but singles can be a ruthless game of bowls. Oliver then took the mat up and managed to claw back 11 shots over ends 11 to 16 to go into the lead 17-12. Then Ian clawed back 6 shots over ends 17 to 20 to make it 18 all and set up a grand finale. At this stage, the spectators were on the edge of their seats. Oliver ran out eventual winner 21-19 on the 24th end. One punter remarked that it was the greatest comeback since Botham’s Ashes in 1981.

The Spider was won by Sheila Barker and Oliver. The Club served an excellent lunch (thanks to Lawrence and his team) and for once the Nairobi weather returned to normal sunshine which made the Club Singles a very pleasant weekend.

From left - Marion Weston, Peter Scholes, Clare Jethwa, Maria Cunningham, Gerry Cunningham

Club Pairs 2021

We had a keenly contested 2021 Club Pairs kindly sponsored by Gordon and Marion Weston. A total entry of eight pairs were divided into two leagues of four teams with the winners of each league playing off in a final to take home the quaich. Every pair won at least one game, which reflected the high standard of bowling throughout the competition. The final was contested between Oliver Fowler & Halina Pellini and Maureen Burns & Sheryl Fowler. The winners by 14 - 12 shots were Oliver and Halina who went into an early lead and maintained it right up to the end. The Best Losers prizes went to Alan Collis and Marion Weston. The winners of the Spider were Sheryl Fowler and Peter Scholes. From left - Gerry Cunningham, Marion Weston, Halina Pellini and Oliver Fowler.

Club Singles 2021

Gerry Cunningham Bowls Captain

Upcoming Lawn Bowls Events

A coaching drive for new and existing bowlers is taking place during August and September at the Bowling Green.

18/19 SEPT 2021 Club Handicap Singles Kindly sponsored by Sheryl and Oliver Fowler

24/25 SEPT 2021 MCC vs. KCC (Mackenzie Shield) Saturday at Karen Country Club Sunday at Muthaiga Country Club 9-11 OCT 2021 Willie Watson Trophy (Invitational) Kindly sponsored by Muthaiga Country Club 24 OCT 2021 Barefoot Bowls BBQ/Curry

During the past couple of months the tennis courts have seen plenty of action, despite the gloomy weather.

MCC’s annual “Roland Garros” Mixed Doubles Competition, played on a Round-Robin basis was won by the pair representing the City of Toulouse, Adil el Youssefi & Anu Bhardwaj. They were followed closely by Team Avignon, Johnny Ponsonby & Naomi Ndolo as runners-up.

Roland Garros winners Team Toulouse - Adil El Youssefi & Anu Bhardwaj

Roland Garros Runners-up Team Avignon Johnny Ponsonby & Naomi Ndolo

Forthcoming Tennis Events

SUNDAY 12 SEPTEMBER

MCC’s U.S. Open Mixed Doubles

SUNDAY 16 SEPTEMBER

“Les Grands Poissons” Mixed Doubles for 55+ players

SUNDAY 10 OCTOBER

“Cup of Nations” Mixed Doubles

SUNDAY 24 OCTOBER

The Men’s & Ladies’ Singles Tournament was also well attended and fiercely battled out. Winners and Runners-Up are pictured below.

From left - Mens’ & Ladies’ Singles Tournament Runners-up Adil El Youssefi, Paul McLellan and Tessa Mclellan and Winners Pamela Bitange, Sunil Gidoomal and Bartol Letica.

MCC’s “Wimbledon” Tournament was held on a dreary day in July, but attracted a great turn-out, which meant it was played as a team event for a change. It proved to be a hotly (despite the cool weather) contested challenge with Team Birmingham 1st Pair (Johnny Ponsonby & Patsy Chapman) and 2nd Pair (Alec Davis & Naomi Ndolo) beating Team London 1st Pair (Hans Shrader & Fui Meng) and 2nd Pair (Amb. Dragan & Anu Bhardwaj) by just by one point!

For our final “Pot Luck” Mixed Doubles event in August, names were drawn out of a hat for pairings and a simple handicap was introduced, which resulted in Johnny Ponsonby and Michael (Staff) being the overall winners for the morning (pictured here.)

John Goodwin